THE 2nd Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 admitted that cases of bullying in schools in the country remain to be alarming.

This was after the commission with the partnership with De La Salle University conducted five studies on bullying.

“One of the most striking findings in the Program from International Student Assessment 2018 results was that the Philippines had the highest percentage of bullying among all participating countries and territories. This trend was replicated in the PISA 2022 assessment although the percentage was lower in this round of assessment,” Dr. Allan B.I. Bernardo, a distinguished university professor and university fellow from DLSU, said.

“International large-scale assessments show us an alarmingly high prevalence of bullying in our schools, which threatens the safety and well-being of our learners. Since we are also looking at the possibility that actual bullying incidents are underreported, we need to ensure that DepEd has strong reporting mechanisms so we can fully capture what is happening on the ground,” EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.

An overview of the studies noted that tackling bullying calls for school-wide anti-bullying approaches.

The commission said bullying is not just one thing and we need to look at it as sustaining and supporting the whole school environment.

The DLSU study highlighted how the school structure and environment, and the level of support they get from adults can predict exposure to bullying among students.

According to the findings, Regions XIII and IV-B MIMAROPA were identified to have the highest incidence of bullying, followed by Regions XII, V, and I.